Our son's name is Avi. It didn't seem unusual to me, but everyone comments on how "different" it is. We are not Jewish or from Isreal, where Avi is a more typical name. We liked the name Avett from a boy and Avett become Avi. It fits his well!

Me, mama to 1.5 yr old DS, step mama to two tweens, married to a sarcastic sports nut . We are unschooling! http://twocoolfourschool.wordpress.com/

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I am very drawn to more unique whimsical names, but I like my share of traditional too. For instance Charlotte and Amelia are two of my choices for a girl, but I am also considering Hazel, Athalia, or Elowen. For a boy I don't really like traditional names for some reason. My top picks right now are Koen, Kieran, or Gracen (just realized they all end in N).

Awww, Moonlily is my World of Warcraft character name, as is Viola. I also have a Kallidora. I guess when you stop having children, you have to give names to other things in your life. My favorite name, though, one I think would make a nice name for a child is Derowen. It's a Celtic name with a tree connotation, although I think I pronounce it incorrectly since I've read the accent should be on the second syllable, and I say it on the first. But it's pretty either way.

I live in a country where there is an approved list of names My DS is Rufus Ferdinand. He's the only Rufus I know personally, we've certainly never met one around here. Most people here are pretty conservative about names, but I've come across a Eunice, Arabella, Felix, Medard, Oscar, Berenice, Ignatius, Amos. Some older people here have crazy soviet names, I know a woman named Oktabrinka is honor of the Russian Revolution. She goes by Inka nowMy family doesn't have any unusual names, just uncommon, old names that haven't made a come-back. Not yet anyway. I had a great aunt called Oda, a great uncle galled Gustav a great-grandmother called Leopoldine. One of my grandma's cousins was called Adolf (this was before WWII and luckily he died before a certain dictator tarnished the name forever).

I am not a fan of unusual names, so I have none to contribute to this thread. I don't want to criticize anybody else's name choice, so I will confine my comments to the following:

I think if you are going to pick a name that is used in a fictional work, and you know it is used in that fictional work, you should know a little bit about that character. Someone posted a list of Game of Thrones names upthread. Some of those characters are real jerks. Even if you don't want to read/watch Game of Thrones and you just like the sound of the name, I think it would behoove you to know about the character as well. Because other people will, even if you don't, and they'll have associations.

I am not a fan of unusual names, so I have none to contribute to this thread. I don't want to criticize anybody else's name choice, so I will confine my comments to the following:

I think if you are going to pick a name that is used in a fictional work, and you know it is used in that fictional work, you should know a little bit about that character. Someone posted a list of Game of Thrones names upthread. Some of those characters are real jerks. Even if you don't want to read/watch Game of Thrones and you just like the sound of the name, I think it would behoove you to know about the character as well. Because other people will, even if you don't, and they'll have associations.

I posted the GoT list (and FWIW, both my kids have very traditional, normally-spelled names and I wouldn't have it any other way). I agree with your thoughts, although that's really true of any name, not just names from fictional works.

Some names are so common that one association with a bad guy doesn't really matter (like Joseph -- people aren't likely to immediately think, "OMG, you named your baby after Stalin!", especially since there are also biblical and other references for the name), but some are pretty strongly and unilaterally associated with a historical real-life villain.

But yeah, I'd do a double take if someone introduced me to their little baby Joffrey, although really, with that one, the parents could just be big ballet fans and have no idea that GoT even exists.

When BigGirl was born, I didn't live in the US. I named her Pantera - the genus name for most of the big cats: panthers, lions, etc. To me, it was a strong, independent, and graceful symbol of my dreams for her. I was SO shocked to return to the US and find that a heavy metal band, a sportscar, and a very expensive perfume had that name. This is not the meaning I had intended at all, but the association most Americans would have with that name. My advice is to do some cultural research!

Rhu - mother,grandmother,daughter,sister,friend-foster,adoptive,and biological;not necessarily in that order. Some of it's magic, some of it's tragic, but I had a good life all the way (Jimmy Buffet)

When BigGirl was born, I didn't live in the US. I named her Pantera - the genus name for most of the big cats: panthers, lions, etc. To me, it was a strong, independent, and graceful symbol of my dreams for her. I was SO shocked to return to the US and find that a heavy metal band, a sportscar, and a very expensive perfume had that name. This is not the meaning I had intended at all, but the association most Americans would have with that name. My advice is to do some cultural research!

And a band that's all bout aggression and anger, with an album cover featuring a closeup of a man being punched in the face. You poor thing :(

If you want to get away from the heavy-metal association, Penny or Tara might make a good nickname... Or Cat if you want to get literal.

I knew a lady who gave her son a last name as a first name that was quirky but nothing fundamentally wrong with it, but then she moved to our city where that same name is the name of a giant shopping complex, and was pretty chagrined to find that out. I mean, still nothing wrong with the name, but I think that someone who lived here already would be very unlikely to pick that name for their kid.

DD1's name is Talia Elizabeth Anne. I had Talia picked out since I was 12 and I saw it on a TV show. Elizabeth and Anne are her grandmothers' middle names. Their first names are Delores and Carole which I don't like at all.

DD2 will be Gwendolyn Ruth Aimée. DH picked Gwendolyn, Ruth is his maternal grandmother's name, and Aimée is a family name from my side. It's French and it means loved. I can't think of a better name for a child than that.

If DD2 had been a boy, he would have been called Rory Étienne Dafydd. Rory from Doctor Who, Étienne Dafydd after our fathers.

Me (34) (PCOS), DH (36) and DD1 (4) and DD2(1). We are going to go for a third. Now, will we succeed?

We have a Phoenyx Rayne (Everyone HATED her name before birth... but she has been so beautiful even from birth that whenever anybody meets her... she is paraded around for all to see... which I don't like... but now... everyone says her name fits her beauty and personality... My Daddy calls her Wren - his little songbird instead of Phoenyx lol)

We also have a Roxanne Jubilee (I don't know anybody with Jubilee) and I absolutely love it.

I think I might be pregnant again.

If it's a boy... we like Alijah Jabril (Not too different)

But if it's a girl... either Xion (Zion) or Xoie (Zoey) which everyone hates the spelling... but love the names

I like Xion Axelle or Xion Arcadia or Xion Auralia or Xion Aoife or Xion Tallulah or Xion Talia lol (Some I got from this message board)